Chocolate-orange tart

I hope you all had an amazing Christmas and New Years celebrations. Time went by so fast and here we are in 2016.  I must say that 2015 was really successful for me and my blog and I will try to make my posts even more interesting and innovative. I would also like to thank you all for viewing my blog because I really love what I do.

OK, back to the chocolate and orange tart. This combination is well-known and adored by many including me. I wanted the tart to have a really strong orange flavor. Instead of including just orange zest or juice I included the whole orange. The oranges were sliced and cooked whole with sugar and water until tender. I basically made a quick orange jam for the bottom of the tart.

The chocolate part on top of the oranges is a chocolate cremeoux. The original recipe is from Michalaks' dessert which you can find here. Cremeoux in French basically means creamy. It's like a mixture between a chocolate sauce and a chocolate pudding. It's absolutely delicious and easy to make. It can be incorporated in many different desserts. The cremeoux needs a couple of hours (best overnight) in the fridge to set and then you are ready to garnish and serve.

You can make the same tart with different seasonal fruit and with different types of chocolate so there are many variations for this tart.

Chocolate-orange tart

(Makes one 24cm tart)

             Time:

Preparation: 45min

Cooking: 30min

Baking: 20min

Setting: overnight

For the chocolate pastry:

• 25g cocoa powder
• 225g all-purpose flour
• 125g room temperature butter
• 80g icing sugar
• 1 tablespoon cold water
• 1 egg
• pinch of salt

For the orange marmalade:

• 1 orange (not chemically treated)
• 2 tablespoon white granulated sugar
• juice from one orange
• a pinch of cinnamon and allspice

For the chocolate cremeoux:

• 140g heavy cream
• 140g milk
• 50g egg yolks
• 40g white granulated sugar
• 180g dark chocolate
• orange zest

For the garnish:

• 150g heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon orange liqueur
• 1 tablespoon icing sugar

For the orange shards:

• 50g white granulated sugar
• orange zest

Making the chocolate pastry:

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and place the rack in the center of the oven.

Mix together flour and cocoa powder in a separate bowl.

Cream the butter, sugar and salt, together then mix in the  flour-cocoa powder mixture. Then add the egg and water so that the mixture comes together.

Gently work it together until you have a ball of dough, then flour it lightly.

Wrap the dough in cling film and put it in the fridge for at least an hour.

Lightly butter and flour the tart shell. 

When the dough is ready remove it from the fridge, roll it out, line your tart tin with it, gently prick holes with the fork so that the dough doesn't rise when baking. Cover and put in the fridge for half an hour (This will help prevent the crust from shrinking while it bakes).

Bake the pastry case blind (put pie weights or rice on the parchment paper in the tart shell before baking to prevent the pastry from shrinking and puffing up) for around 12 to 15 minutes or until firm Remove from the oven and remove the rice. Place back in the oven for 5-7 minutes to bake completely. Set aside to cool.

Making the orange marmalade:

Cut the orange into thin wedges and place in a pot. Add sugar, juice and spices and cook on medium heat until tender. Add a dash of water if the marmalade gets to thick.

Set aside to cool completely.

Spread it evenly on a cooled chocolate tart shell and set aside.

Making the chocolate cremeoux:

Chop the chocolate in small pieces and place in a heat-proof bowl.
Combine and whisk egg yolks and sugar in a bowl.

Pour milk and cream in a pot and add orange zest. Heat until boiling and pour over the egg yolk mixture while whisking. 

Pour the mixture back in a pot and heat until thick (about 83°C). Pour the mixture over the chocolate and stir until homogeneous.

Set aside to cool than pour over the orange marmalade in the tart shell. Put the tart in the fridge to set for a couple of hours or overnight.

Making the orange shards:

Put the sugar in a small sauce pan and place on medium heat. Meanwhile grate orange zest from one orange. Also prepare a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silicon mat.

Once the sugar is golden brown add the orange zest and quickly stir it in. 

Pour the sugar on a parchment paper, be careful it's going to be very hot. Tilt the baking sheet so that the sugar evens out. Set aside to cool completely.
Break the sugar into random shards.

Assembly:
Whip heavy cream with sugar and orange liqueur. Pour in a piping bag and pipe dollops on the chocolate cremeoux. Garnish with orange shards, grated chocolate and additional orange zest.